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Led by 14 points and four assists from senior Raymone Andrews in his first appearance as a Hatter, the Stetson men’s basketball team defeated Palm Beach Atlantic by a score of 71-61 in exhibition action at the Edmunds Center Monday night.

Stetson used 18 offensive rebounds, which led to 17 second chance points, to complete the sweep of its two home exhibition contests this preseason. The Hatters had five players score eight points or more, and received 40 points off the bench en route to the 10 point victory.

“We pushed the ball like we wanted to, we scored some easy baskets, we put pressure on their defense, so I was pleased with that,” Stetson head coach Corey Williams said. “We still missed too many free throws, and we had too many turnovers. Overall we still have a long way to go, but I did see some progress tonight.

“When you’re at the three, four, and five position on our basketball team, we want them to crash the glass,” Williams went on to say about the team’s rebounding. “A lot of teams ball watch, so if we go, just by going we have an opportunity to get a rebound. We did a better job on the offensive glass and that has to continue.”

Like in the first exhibition against Tampa, Stetson was late out of the gates in this one, allowing the first five points to the Sailfish. The Hatters quickly took the advantage though, using an 11-0 run bookended by a pair of three-pointers by freshman B.J. Glasford to take a 21-14 lead with 11:35 to play in the first half.

After missing the first exhibition due to a minor injury, Andrews made his presence felt early on Monday night, scoring 10 first half points, which included a three that extended Stetson’s lead to 11 points at 39-28 with 4:04 to play in the first frame.

The Hatters ended the first half with five straight points that ended with a put-back layup by junior Kentwan Smith that gave Stetson a 44-31 advantage at the break.

Senior Willie Green opened up the second half with a jumper to give Stetson what would end up being its largest lead of the game at 46-31 before the Sailfish countered with an 11-3 to cut the lead back down to just seven points at 49-42 with 13:54 remaining.

A thunderous dunk on the break from Green, off of a pass from Andrews, snapped the PBA run and put the momentum back in Stetson’s favor. The Stetson lead did not fall below seven points the rest of the way as the Hatters went on to win 71-61 over Palm Beach Atlantic.

Andrews led the Hatters with 14 points and four assists, while Glasford added double digit scoring with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Smith and Green finished the night with nine points, while senior Hunter Miller chipped in with eight.

“As you can see, he is a talented young man,” Williams said of Andrews. “He’s poised, he understands the game, and he didn’t have any turnovers tonight. He’s an unbelievable defender on the ball. We’ll always feel like we need to have him in the game.”

Redshirt-freshman Brian Pegg was extremely active on both ends of the court on Monday, finishing the night with six points, eight rebounds (four offensive), two assists, one block, and six steals.

Stetson struggled from the free throw line and from beyond the arc, going just 13-of-29 (44.8%) from the stripe, and making 6-of-26 (23.1%) from three-point range.

Palm Beach Atlantic was led by Evin Graham with 12 points and Marcus Hardy who put in 10 and grabbed five rebounds.

Stetson will open up the regular season on Friday, Nov. 8 at Clemson at 7:00 p.m. That game can be watched on ESPN3 or listened to on WSBB 1230 AM and WTJV 1490 AM.